BALTIMORE (WJZ)– A surprise a city sheriff’s deputy never saw coming. A man with a knife jumps into his cruiser and allegedly tries to attack him, forcing the deputy to pull out his gun.

Gigi Barnett explains what happened.

What started at a busy intersection in Northeast Baltimore took a bizarre turn for one sheriff’s deputy. Now the suspect is in the hospital and investigators say the question they want to ask him is: Why?

The Baltimore City Sheriff’s Department say they have one way to describe the attack on one of their own Friday morning:

“The circumstances surrounding it are very wild in that we’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Sgt. Carla Lightsey, spokeswoman of the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Department.

Just after 8 a.m. Friday, investigators said Gideon Shifaraw was at a stop light at Moravia Road and Walther Avenue in Northeast Baltimore. He was headed to work. All of a sudden, the passenger door opened and a man with a knife jumped in. Sgt. Lightsey said, without words or warning, the man attacked Shifaraw.

“It just speaks to the level of uncertainty,” said Lightsey.

But the deputy fought back, pulled out his gun and fired, striking 36-year-old John K. Daugherty in the arm. Neighbors say the story in this area with manicured lawns is disturbing.

“If you’re out and running your car, you should have your doors locked anyway,” Eugene Davis, a maintenance worker, said. “To be safe.”

“You never know what’s going to happen. But you can’t run around in fear either,” said Kurt Hock, a resident of Northeast Baltimore.

Baltimore’s sheriff’s deputies are assigned to protect courthouses and issue warrants. Right now, investigators are trying to find out why this particular deputy was attacked. But they have a clear message for other officers:

“We always say that when you wear this uniform, you have to always be alert. Never forget the training that you’re provided and the training that you’re continuously provided yearly because you might have to revert to it.”

Although he was a bit shaken up, the deputy was not seriously injured. In fact, he’s home with his family. The suspect was hurt. Medics rushed him to Johns Hopkins Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said charges will be filed once the suspect is released from Johns Hopkins Hospital.